Swiss solvents producer hit by blast at chemical plant near Zurich

LONDON (ICIS)--An explosion on Tuesday night at a Swiss solvents plant near ?xml:namespace>Zurich, Switzerland, caused slight respiratory injuries to 14 fire fighters who breathed in fumes, police and Swiss state media said.

The accident occurred at around 20:40 Switzerland local time (18:40 GMT) at the site of solvents producer CU Chemie Uetikon AG at Uetikon on LakeZurich, the reports said. CU Chemie could not immediately be reached for comment.

Werner Schaub, a spokesman for Zurich regional police, said that despite the explosion there was no fire at the site.

Even though fire fighters and police blocked nearby roads and took other precautions, there was no danger to residents, Schaub added.

Reports by Swiss state and other media said that apart from the fire fighters, there were no other injuries.